Box Score
Samford StatsRUSTON, La. -- Against the defending Conference USA champions and National Invitational Tournament (NIT) quarterfinalists from a year ago, the Samford University basketball team battled hard versus the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and nearly challenged for a huge early-season upset Friday at the Thomas Assembly Hall.
Leading by seven at the half, 34-27,
Louisiana Tech (5-1) shot a torrid 58.3 percent from the field in the final period and eventually pulled away for a 77-64 victory over
Samford (2-5).
"This was a tough loss, but I thought our effort was great," said Samford head coach
Scott Padgett. "This is how we have to play every game in order to win. When we play Jacksonville on Monday, this is the kind of effort that we need to have. I'm really proud that we never gave up and stopped giving effort, even when we were losing by double digits in the second half."
With its hard-fought win, Louisiana Tech extended its home winning streak to 17-consecutive games dating all the way back to January of 2012. Last year, Louisiana Tech earned 29 victories and made a run in the 2014 NIT Postseason Tournament.
Samford came to play with fire and intensity Friday as the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 13-8 advantage with 13:20 remaining the first half in front of a stunned 4,214 Louisiana Tech fans.
During its quick run to open the game, Samford shared the ball extremely well and scored on layups from
Darius Jones-Gibson,
Michael Bradley,
Nnamdi Enechionyia,
Alex Peters,
Christen Cunningham and
Brandon Roberts.
Peters, the Bulldogs' talented true freshman from Mountain Brook, Alabama, turned in his best game of the season Friday and registered 10 points and eight rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting from the field.
"I'm really proud of these guys and their effort," Padgett said. "I thought that
Alex Peters did a great job of coming in and being ready to play. He had 10 points and eight rebounds, and also took three huge charges on the defensive end, so he was extremely active in this game."
Samford continued its solid play throughout the first half and weathered a 12-2 Louisiana Tech run midway in the period to trail by just three points, 30-27, with 1:18 remaining until the intermission.
Louisiana Tech scored the final five points of the opening period, including a Raheem Appleby 3-point basket at the buzzer to garner a 34-27 lead at halftime.
Appleby's 3-pointer immediately before the half awakened Louisiana Tech's leading scorer as he tallied 15 of his team's first 17 points of the final period to build a 53-37 advantage over Samford.
Down the stretch, despite trailing by double digits for a majority of the second half, the Bulldogs never stopped hustling and eventually trimmed Louisiana Tech's lead to 77-64 at the buzzer.
"We took some bad shots early in the second half and we committed some costly turnovers, and that allowed them to make a pretty good run on us," Padgett said. "In the first half, I thought we did a really good job of getting a quality shot each time down the court. Now, we didn't make all of them, but since it was a good shot, everybody knew it was coming and were able to get in great rebounding position."
Samford's leading scorer Friday proved to be Jones-Gibson with 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the field. He also grabbed seven rebounds, recorded three steals and added two assists. Cunningham tallied 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting and accumulated two rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.
The Bulldogs out-rebounded Louisiana Tech, 42-41, including a 21-15 margin on the offensive end of the court.
Samford also forced Louisiana Tech into 21 turnovers, and only committed 15 of its own. Additionally, the Bulldogs were rewarded with 27 points off turnovers, as compared to 20 from Louisiana Tech.
The Samford University basketball team will next be in action Monday at 7 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs return home to the Pete Hanna Center for a date with the Jacksonville University Dolphins. Next week's contest will be broadcast to a national audience live on ESPN3.
Box Score
Samford Stats
